Other View

One of the things social theorists seem to be slow to pick up on is the extend to which media shape our inner world. Even ISterrorists are caught up; for where analysts deride them for being deluded with Hollywood images of heroism and action,  Hollywood has little to do with it. It is media power pure and simple which is at work. And which they feel free to use. Nobody stupid here!

They are not concerned that the Prophet was represented, but that he was misrepresented. Where in medieval painting, Muhammad might be shown with a veil covering his face - for he was long gone, and no longer accessible in truth - his integrity needs to be guarded even today. Clearly , cartooning put the perpetrators in the category of the ill-intentioned. Am I the only one to notice how cheerful the Caliphate fighters appear? This is not staged mirth, they are on a roll. It is not the cheerful relief of those who have won the war; it is something else, ongoing in a nascent conflict. Perhaps they caught cheerfulness from us; that is one thing Hollywood exports a lot of.

Conflict in the Middle East is far from new; hey, the Middle East have invented the genre. Perhaps it is a rising up, taking action at last. And an unspeakable resentment at impersonal warfare, bombs falling indiscriminately, that is starting to break. A rising against evil. We, we will, strike indiscriminately as well. Until there is a planetary caliphate ie peace on earth.

So there is a lot of testosterone in action, here. And yes, it is a warrior state model and not a peace one. Because peace is only possible in world of - no, not eternal vigilance - concurrent struggle with the infidel. Close but not quite!!

So France is starting on a program of  counter propaganda, telling the truth about the djihadist lifestyle to counter all that romantic misinformation. Good luck with that, and LOL.

Am I being a hopeless reactionary in not applauding satire as a necessity in a state separate from religion. Where the professed atheist can have his laugh, as well as the sophisticate believer. As a professional of thought - someone who has studied philosopĥy - I recognize the power of prayer, which some religions practice as meditation. The possibility of an island of inner peace needs to be defended, even where it does not require an elaborate belief system. In effect, mocking the prophet might itself be construed as a form of  naivety. Does anyone make Julius Caesar jokes any more? He lived a long time ago and is largely left to his time. Why take religious figures out for a spin? It just seems unnecessary, in my humble view.